A Hero's Demons
by CUtopia
Summary: Superhero!AU (Avengers) - Katie and Marcus save the world once again, but they don't feel like celebrating.


Entry for the _Last Ship Sailing Competition_

Prompts:

(AU) Superhero!AU

(word) storm

(object) quilt

(word) glorious

(dialogue) "You don't have to leave."

Bonus Prompts:

(dialogue) "Where are your shoes?"

(object) map

Entry for _Defense Against The Dark Arts_ at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

 **Task #2** : Write about someone preventing further harm or damage.

Entry for the _Gringotts Prompt Bank_

AU Prompt: Superhero

Various Prompts: Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

(action) mumbling

(action) killing someone

(action) changing clothes quickly

(action) saving someone's life

(character) Superhero

(word) debris

Various Prompts: Galavant

(action) getting drunk

(job/title) hero

(word) hero

Thanks a lot to my fellow Wanderer Dina, who beta-ed this for me!

(2470 Words)

* * *

 **A Hero's Demons**

Screams filled the streets as people fled, reporting horrible events to everyone they ran past. A mass of panicking people surged away from the formerly crowded square at the foot of the Tower of London. The earth was shaking, and explosions proved that someone who didn't care about innocent people was attacking the city.

And while everyone tried to escape, running over the bodies of those who'd lost their balance and fallen, a motorcycle raced past them, and overhead, a helicopter flew in the same direction – towards the attack.

On the motorcycle, a young man wearing a shield on his back was screaming at the woman with auburn hair sitting behind him and holding on to his back tightly. She held a map in her left hand, the paper fluttering harshly in the airstream.

"I cannot believe we drove the wrong way just because you are unable to read a map! You were a spy, dammit, how did you find targets without being able to navigate with a map?" Marcus exclaimed angrily as he dodged the people coming towards them, making the bike sway dangerously from one side to the other.

Katie glared at the back of Marcus' head and deliberately dug her fingernails just a tiny bit deeper into his waist.

"Oh, who of us is driving as if the devil is behind us! How am I supposed to read this thing when you're causing me to nearly lose the map or my breakfast!" She answered angrily and nearly flew from the motorcycle when Marcus brought it to an abrupt stop. Her torso crashed into the shield on his back, and a few curses escaped her.

"It's more worse than we thought!" Marcus exclaimed as they climbed off the motorcycle. He took his shield off his back while Katie drew the two 9 millimeters that had been sitting in the thigh holsters integrated into her black fighting suit.

"Could you brake less abruptly next time? Vibranium isn't particularly pleasant to collide with!" Katie hissed at him while fixing her gaze onto the giant ship hovering in the sky above the Thames. Smaller flying vehicles left it every few seconds and landed on the cobblestones by the Tower, dropping off several dozens of soldiers before flying back to the mothership.

"I hate aliens," Marcus mumbled as he felt the impact vibrations of their fellow superheroes landing on the stone behind them. "I should have had a bigger breakfast."

Katie scoffed, exchanging a gaze with Thor before grinning: "Is the glorious Captain Britannica afraid?"

"Not at all," he grinned back before turning towards their team. Everybody was looking eager to fight, and he knew that they would triumph – they always did. Victory was addictive, and the Avengers were all addicts who did their best to save those who couldn't defend themselves.

"Good," Katie smiled grimly. "Tin Man, we need to destroy their mothership. Find a way to do this; we will keep the soldiers occupied!"

Immediately, the group parted, and while they stormed towards the troops, side by side, Marcus yelled: "Who gave you the command?"

"The Queen, Captain! Together with that fancy medal!"

Seconds later, the superheroes collided with the alien army, and the fight started, flooding the place with even more chaos.

Marcus took down three aliens at once by throwing his shield; the impact knocked them out cold. To his left, Katie was shooting one soldier after another, showing off her lethal precision. Suddenly, screams behind them alerted them. Upon turning around, Marcus and Katie realised that there were still some civilians in the area, immensely endangered by the merciless alien soldiers. They only needed to exchange a short look before storming towards them, taking out more aliens on their way, their movements nearly simultaneous.

One woman was lying on the ground, a heavily bleeding bullet wound in her thigh keeping her from escaping. Katie grabbed her and just wanted to drag her out of the danger zone, when Marcus pushed her down, shielding the two women with his body and his shield. Adrenaline rushed through Katie's veins as she heard the sound of bullets ricocheting off the vibranium. As soon as Marcus slapped her onto the back, she grabbed the woman by the arm and dragged her away, her heart pumping hard in her chest as she heard her cry out in pain.

"Everything will be okay, I just need you to stay down," Katie exclaimed, trying to sound as tough and confident as possible while she left the woman in a corner, away from all the danger. Marcus was guiding another large group of civilians towards her, giving his best to keep the aliens away and shield the people from the weapons.

But it was in vain – they had just brought a group into safety when one of the smaller ships dropped a bomb. Katie threw herself to the ground and shielded her head just in time; debris rained down onto her back and people's screams filled her ears. Marcus was lying right next to her, releasing a few curses and a moan that told her that he was wounded as well. She wanted to crawl over to him, but he shook his head, growling: "I'm okay, just dislocated my shoulder. Go."

Those who were still able to walk were fleeing from the site, trying to drag some of the injured with them, and all Katie could do was give them cover by firing her weapons on every alien that was still moving.

She knew that the reinforcements of the Army and Air Force were coming, but she just hoped that Tin Man would be able to sabotage the mothership before more people were killed; from what they knew about these aliens, their mothership was their lifeline, and without it, their technology was useless.

It was as if someone had heard her thoughts – suddenly, fighter jets raced through the air above them, she could see a platoon of tanks was coming closer, medics and Army soldiers taking care of the civilians nearby. And then, a metallic sound escaped from the mothership, so loud that it made the air vibrate and everyone stopped dead in their tracks, staring up at the giant ship with wide eyes.

In this moment, Katie knew that they had won; but her heart sank as she saw all the bodies at her feet. Blood covered the cobblestones, and she felt like she was about to throw up when she saw the deformed body of a child; the small arms still clutching a teddy bear.

She had been too focussed on the living earlier to notice how many people had died next to her.

OoO

It was raining heavily outside as Marcus heard a knock at the door of his apartment. Leaving his glass of scotch behind, he went to answer the door, hoping that it was someone he could hush away quickly. He wasn't feeling up to having company, especially as the pain medication and the alcohol made him feel a little bit loopy – something his superpowers couldn't keep away.

As he opened the door, the sounds of the storm raging intensified, but he didn't really register that, as he only had eyes for the person standing in front of him.

"Katie. What are you doing here?"

He took a step to the side to let her in, seeing how she shook from the cold; her clothes were soaked and as he led her towards his bathroom, leaving a small trail of water behind.

"Wait a minute, I'll grab you something to wear. Where are your shoes, by the way?"

She didn't answer until he had returned from his bedroom with an old Army t-shirt and a pair of pyjama pants that would be way too big for her. Her eyes were glassy from alcohol, and she slurred slightly as she spoke.

"Uh... I guess I must have lost them on my way here from the pub."

Marcus decided not to give her a disapproving glance – after all, she surely had already noticed that open scotch bottle on his coffee table. She may have been drunk, but she was still a former spy and assassin, trained to observe every single detail in every situation.

He left her alone in the bathroom so she could change, and when she let herself fall onto the couch minutes later, he already had a quilt ready to wrap around her shaking body. After mumbling a 'Thank You', they fell silent, sitting next to each other while staring around the room and listening to the storm gaining force outside. From time to time, Marcus took a sip from his scotch, trying to think of anything to say to her.

But nothing came to his mind that wouldn't sound rude or as if her presence was an inconvenience, and so it was her who was the first to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence. He could hear the tears in her voice before he saw them gleaming in her beautiful eyes.

"I... I feel pathetic, you know."

Her voice was shaking and her expression was full of sorrow as she looked at him, her lower lip quivering slightly.

"Why?"

"I am a spy, an assassin, since I was a little girl I was trained to kill people without showing emotions. I was trained to be merciless and ruthless, to use violence if necessary. My whole life was filled with violence, if you think about it. And still here I am, feeling so guilty about these people that died today that I feel like I could drown."

Of course, Marcus knew exactly how she felt; he was a soldier, he'd fought in a World War and had killed countless people in these years. If he thought about it, Katie and he had more in common than he had realised so far. They were both deathly weapons, and though they had been trained under different motives, they shared a history that was full with death and destruction.

Marcus took the liberty to think about his answer for a bit longer; he wasn't really an expert when it came to talking about things that involved emotions. He could explain how to take a machine gun apart with one hand, but feelings... it just wasn't his area of expertise.

"I guess it's always different when innocent non-combatants are killed. They weren't involved this, they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Gesturing towards the half empty scotch bottle, he added: "You're not the only one who feels like they didn't do enough today. Thirty people are dead, and I can't... I can't help but feel like I could have prevented their deaths somehow."

Katie nodded slowly, wiping over her eyes with her wrist before grabbing the bottle and taking a huge swig, coughing slightly as the liquid burned her throat. Upon catching her breath, she whispered: "I guess that's the burden of being one of the good guys."

"Yeah," Marcus whispered, emptying his glass and slamming it onto the table before taking the bottle from her hand to drink.

"Sometimes I hate being one of the good ones."

"Can't comment on that. I am Captain Britannica. Fucked up beyond recognition, but always fighting for Queen and motherland," Marcus exclaimed after gulping down, and Katie ran a hand through her damp hair, shaking her head.

It was like a silent agreement that they didn't speak further about the topic; instead, they emptied the bottle of scotch together, in silence. Midnight was long gone when Katie suddenly stood up from the couch, swaying slightly while slurring: "I... I guess I should go now."

She nearly fell over the coffee table, and Marcus grabbed her arm just in time, pulling her back onto the couch. In the process, she landed in his lap, and a giggle escaped her. For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes, their breaths being the only thing they could hear.

Then, Marcus said with a nearly pleading expression: "You don't have to leave, you know."

"Why?" she whispered back, her warm breath tickling his cheek and her smell invaded his nostrils; earthy rainwater, faint traces of vanilla and alcohol mingled with something fruity. Warmth spread through his body, a bit out of control, and he could barely tear his eyes away from her lips.

"Be-because it's still raining outside and... and your... your clothes are still wet and... and you're drunk and I am drunk and... uh... I... I don't think I want to be alone tonight."

He knew how that sounded, and that his arousal was more than obvious, but he didn't care. This day had been horrible, and he was suddenly longing for human contact in any form. Marcus really didn't want her to leave him alone, because there was a second bottle of scotch in the kitchen and he really didn't want to open it. But he knew that if she would leave now, he would drink it.

All he could do now was hope that she didn't misinterpret his intentions. His body was simply reacting in one way it was used to, while in his mind, things were way more complicated. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to her – after all, she was a beautiful woman, a warrior, witty, intelligent, dangerous.

However, he didn't want her for one steamy night of passion; for the first time in his life, he wanted someone to stay with him and fight his demons. And Katie, she knew these demons, as they were sitting within her soul as well.

She was looking him into the eyes, deeply, and the smile had vanished from her face. For a short time, he really thought that she would shove him away, call him a pig that only thought with his dick.

He expected her to slap him, but instead, she slung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I know," she whispered as he buried his face in her hair while her fingers tangled in his, holding him close. He had no idea for how long they sat on the couch like this, her on his lap, arms and legs wrapped around his body, inhaling the others scent to calm down. At some point, Marcus started to feel sleepy and they lay down, cuddled close under the quilt which Katie had carried around her shoulders. Marcus found that the sound of her even breath was the most soothing sound he had ever heard in his life, and he wasn't afraid to fall asleep.

With Katie in his arms, the nightmares that normally haunted him stayed away, and he knew that he would never let her go.


End file.
